Blackjack
"Blackjack" is the thirteenth episode of the fourth season of AMC's Fear The Walking Dead. It is the fiftieth episode of the series overall. It premiered on September 9, 2018. It was written by Ian Goldberg & Richard Naing and directed by Sharat Raju. Plot Strand and Dorie are marooned; Luciana aids a man in need; the group's efforts to help a stranger put everyone in danger. Synopsis While the group waits for Quinn, a walker approaches their truck. Jim gets scared but Wendell uses his wheelchair spikes to impale it while Sarah finishes it off. Jim notices the “Take what you need” message marked on its forehead and June immediately radios Quinn. However, she only hears walker groans on the other side, followed by Martha telling her he’s dead. Morgan recognizes the voice and radios her. Martha asks, “Is that you, Morgan?” and then tells him she knows a lot about him. She warns him to stop leaving those boxes on the road because it will make him weak. “I know who you are, I know what you’re really capable of,” she says ominously. Elsewhere, John and Strand are marooned on a small island. Strand grabs a book inside a cabin while John chops wood outside to make a raft so they can get to the other side and find June and Charlie. Meanwhile, Luciana searches for Charlie in a library but instead finds an old man named Clayton trapped in a car crash. On the island, John finishes his makeshift raft as Strand watches him struggle to keep it afloat. Suddenly, an alligator swims toward them and John shoots at it, causing it to swim away. Back on the road, Morgan decides that they need to find the rest while Sarah and Jim question him on what the woman meant when she said she knew what he was capable of. He says he has things to make up for and to trust him or he’ll take their truck. When they challenge him again Morgan hits Sarah’s knife out of her hand with a shovel, and they agree to follow him. John spots a walker walk into the river only to get mauled by the gator. Strand walks up and tells John his efforts to find June are useless but John tells him they’ll get off the island if they try hard enough. As John walks around, while thinking of a plan, he notices an overturned pick-up truck at the top of a hill. Luciana tries to free Clayton from the wreckage but it results impossible. She asks if there’s anything she can get him and he tells her he’d love to have one last beer. “You’re going to get one,” she promises and leaves him with a walkie before heading out. Sarah and Jim question if they should keep leaving boxes on the side of the road knowing that it could get someone killed, but Morgan insists it’s worth it. He adds instructions on the box to use radio channel 4, hoping John will eventually see it. Meanwhile, Strand climbs on the overturned pick-up truck at the top of the hill and wrestles with a walker for a bottle of scotch. The movement causes the truck to roll down the hill, which impales the walkers with a branch while Strand miraculously survives. John questions his decision but Strand walks off. On the road, Luciana searches for beer everywhere but doesn't find anything. Back on the island, John tears apart the truck to makeshift a boat. After he finishes, he confronts Strand on his drinking, who tells him he drinks to forget. He laments that he only has things to look back on compared to John, who has something to look forward to. John tells him he can drink with him on the boat, which is even outfitted with a truck horn. Impressed, Strand finally agrees to come with him. John uses the truck horn to lure a walker into the water, so the gator can devour it and give them time to escape. Luciana radios Clayton and tells him that the beer run was unsuccessful. Clayton tells her that in the past he used to be apart from people that cared about him because of his job and now he regrets it, but he is making up for it by helping other people. He tells her she doesn't need to worry and that she’ll help someone else. Suddenly, Luciana discovers the box Morgan had left on the road, with a beer left inside and smiles in joy. John and Strand paddle halfway down the river until the radio horn cuts out. The walkers roam away as their boat gets attacked by the gator and quickly fills with water. Strand fires his gun to distract the walkers while they swim back to the island. Luciana returns to Clayton with the beer and he happily tells her he’s glad she didn’t give up. She explains she couldn’t do anything for someone else in his last moments and she won’t let that happen again. Clayton gleefully takes a sip, thanks Luciana, and instructs her to take his supplies in the back of his car. She asks what job he used to have and he tells her he drove trucks, before passing away in the car. Luciana constructs a memorial in his honor and then radios the channel written on the box, thanking them for helping. Morgan radios back asking if that’s Luciana to which she reacts in surpise. Strand and John sadly return to the shore of the island. Strand takes a swig from his bottle and holes up in the cabin while John eats one of his candies. On the road, Morgan and the rest pick up Luciana and continue on their way. Luciana gives Morgan Clayton's journals, which have locations on several stashes of supplies, and tells him that Clayton would be proud. Suddenly, they are contacted by Charlie and Alicia on the radio. Alicia tells them she found the channel from the box. Morgan tells her to wait at the mile marker and that they are gonna pick them, when suddenly, Martha radios both of them and tells Morgan, “I gave you the chance to be strong.” Morgan tells her he’ll continue to find the people they’re looking for until they find and help her. Sarah spots Al’s SWAT truck appear behind them. Panicked, Morgan radios Martha to ask what she’s doing and she tells him, “You lose people... You lose yourself.” Morgan tells the group to get down just as the woman pulls the truck beside them, opens the gun hatch and opens fire. A shocked Alicia and Charlie are left wondering what happened. Other Cast Co-Stars *Charles Harrelson as Quinn Deaths *Purvis (Zombified) *Clayton Trivia *First (and last) appearance of Clayton. *Last appearance of Purvis. (Zombified) *This is the 50th episode of AMC's Fear The Walking Dead. *John Dorie and Victor Strand's conversation suggests that they survived the hurricane and got caught in a flash flood while driving in it that stranded them on their island. John also mentions them "getting washed up here" further suggesting that they got pushed by the flood before stopping near the island, explaining the fact that they appear to be a significant distance from the mansion. *John mentions that the hurricane might've broke levees which means that the flood waters surrounding their island may never go down. Sarah previously mentioned the hurricane taking out levees in "The Code" while telling Morgan about it. *Strand mentions losing his stomach for boating awhile ago. This is probably a reference to Strand's near drowning experience when the Gonzalez Dam was destroyed in "Sleigh Ride". Strand had been on a boat at the time with Alicia and Madison Clark. *Strand is reading a copy of Moby Dick while stuck on the island. Goofs/Errors *Martha has learned about Morgan by watching Al's tapes. However, Al's camera is dead as seen in "Weak". June killed the battery by watching John Dorie's interview repeatedly. Category:Season 4 (Fear the Walking Dead) Category:TV Episodes Category:Fear The Walking Dead